Manufacturing businesses are by far one of the most dangerous businesses to work in. This is mainly due to the large machines, sharp tools, and hazardous chemicals that are used. Even though you have likely paid out huge amounts of money for your equipment, you will find that it is your trained and skilled workers that are your biggest asset. You should, therefore, take precautions to protect them while they are at your manufacturing site.
1. Put procedures in place
Every manufacturing business has procedures in place for how to carry out certain processes at work. These are often in how to use machinery or how to perform tasks correctly. However, you should also create procedures around the legal health and safety measures that are required by law and regulations – such as how to behave in a fire drill, what to do if an accident occurs, and how to take preventative action.
2. Keep areas free from clutter and debris
With this in mind, you should ensure that all exits and pathways are kept clear of clutter and debris. Having obstacles in these areas could prevent employees from reaching safety or actually cause accidents due to slips, trips, or falls. A lot of debris and clutter in a manufacturing business can be due to cardboard and packaging. Although some of this can be used again to reduce costs, you should endeavor to store it correctly regardless of whether it is waiting for recycling or reuse.
The addition of a baler, if you haven’t already got one, would be a particularly handy tool for this use. However, you would have to make sure that you had the correct gauge baling wire so that the job could be performed correctly. If you are not sure of which gauge baling wire you should use, then asking a highly experienced baling wire supplier like balingwiredirect.com could enlighten you. Using the wrong wire gauge may alter the time the baling job takes and could result in your boxes being tied too tightly and, therefore, not being of any further use to your business.
3. Train employees
Undoubtedly, one of the best methods for improving safety within your manufacturing business and keeping it sustained is to train your employees in various job roles, as well as how to use and care for the machinery and tools around them.
They should also be trained in how to spot potential dangers and how to reduce or remove these dangers from the working area. This would be in tidying up around them, picking up litter or obstacles that may not be seen by others as well as alerting the management to envisaged machinery misuse or bad practices such as the placing of flammables on top of working machinery that could cause malfunction, overheating, or fire.
4. Hire or train dedicated first aiders
In addition to this, you should be sure to either hire or train some of your employees to be first aiders. Having a first aider on site when an accident has occurred can prove to be lifesaving or can limit the effect of any injuries incurred.
For the sake of your employees, you should make sure that you have at least two first aiders, preferably more, working every shift and that you never have lone workers anywhere on your site.
